Italy no longer behind the times

Italy's dwindling band of macho men have been told to keep their hands to themselves after Italy's highest court ruled that a pat on the bottom constitutes sexual violence.

Overturning an earlier ruling that a single or "rapid" slap on the rear was acceptable, the court ruled that an uninvited touching of the buttocks constituted a sexual act.

The revolution in sexual mores was prompted by the case of a 58-year-old who patted the bottom of a woman in her 20s who was selling ice-cream in her parents' bar in the central Italian town of Rieti. The court of cassation overturned the previous ruling by confirming a suspended 14-month prison sentence for the man.

The defendant was guilty of "an effective and concrete intrusion into the sexual sphere of the victim", the court ruled. The verdict was welcomed across the political spectrum.

"The court of cassation has recognised a principle of civilisation: it is mutual consent that determines whether what happens between two people has criminal implications or not," said Franca Bimbi, an opposition MP.

Alessandra Mussolini, of the rightwing National Alliance, concurred. "This verdict shows the court of cassation is receiving the signals that society sends," she said. "It restores a correct appreciation of the role of a person receiving undesired attentions."

Sexual customs have evolved considerably in Italy over the last few decades. Unaccompanied women are now less likely to be subjected to wolf-whistles, ribald comments, or physical contact on the bus.

But the tradition of the Latin lover dies hard. Carmen Cordoba, a Rome-based television producer, said: "Personally, I hate the sexual anonymity in which the women of northern Europe live."